Dive to World!
by AIXE5110
Summary: Tsuna and Yamamoto got bored so they played the game Reborn got for the stupid Cow.
1. Chapter 1 - Trap

**Chapter 1 - Trap**

* * *

A thin red flash shone through the plains right outside the town of beginnings. A Frenzy Boar was flung some dozen meters away from a bandana clad man who caused the earlier flash.

The said animal exploded into translucent polygons.

[.Exp: 21 .Col: 33]

"Alright!"

"And here I thought you'd take another hour to finally learn-" His companion patted his back. "Congrats."

The bandana clad man was practically flying towards his friend.

"Granted, the boars here are basically fodder."

"Don't you dare ruin my moment."

"Right." His friend waved dismissively. "In any case-"

A piercing scream echoed throughout the plains. The two companions darted to the source: It was two players dashing towards the former pair. One had raven colored hair and the other brown.

Both were wearing the expected basic equipment, the black haired one was wearing the same blue color scheme as the bandana man's friend, the latter was wearing an orange colored variation.

The running pair was now very close to the two other players.

"Uwaaaahhh!" The brunette was scrambling right past the pair and jumped behind a rock. "Here, Yamamoto!"

"Stand back!" The raven haired one called. "This guy's pissed!"

"Oi, Kirito. Should we-?"

But bandana man's friend was already dashing his way to the Frenzy boar that was five times the size of what the Red bandana clad man killed earlier. The raven haired man turned back to see two other players were holding the boar off.

The raven haired teen faced the Boar. "Looks like we don't have to take this thing on alone!"

His brown friend was carrying a Buckler. "Thank goodness. I thought I was gonna die!"

Kirito was unlashing a 3-hit combo to stagger the large boar. 'It's a good thing I bought a better sword before heading out earlier.'

His arming-sword finished its predestined combo path, Kirito stepped back.

"I got it!" His partner dashed forward in a red flash.

The boar roared for the last time before it exploded into polygons.

"That was a close one." The raven haired man waved at their rescuers. "Thanks a lot for the save!"

Kirito looked at the two players. "Don't mention it."

"Thank goodness we saw you idling by- we could've died back there." The brown haired player had his brows furrowed. "You alright, Yamamoto?"

His raven haired friend laughed. "I didn't expect that guy to be so hard."

'How come-?'

"Yeah," The brunette squeaked. "That guy was definitely bigger than the most of the pigs we killed."

"Yeah, Kirito. How come that thing was bigger?"

The bandana clad man gestured to his company.

"That was an area boss. They usually spawn in a center of other mobs." Kirito looked at the direction where the boar came from. "Granted, you need to level up a bit to be able to challenge it."

'But how come it already had most of its HP drained- don't tell me those two tried to take on that thing without knowing it was a boss?' He looked over to the pair.

"So _that's_ why I couldn't do anything to the boar. I just need to level up more." The raven haired teen bellowed. "This place is fun, isn't it, Tsuna?"

His brunette friend's sweat dropped. "I don't know. It's giving me the creeps."

Kirito nodded. "That's how most newbies feel when doing a full-dive."

He observed the pair.

Both of them were using the default player design, except the other had his hair changed to brown; but then again, so was Kirito. Although that was because he really wanted to play the game right away.

"By the way," Klein raised an eyebrow. "Why aren't you guys equipping your weapons?"

"Ahahaha." Takeshi scratched the back of his head.

Tsuna sighed. "They broke when we were fighting the big one."

"Wait, you were scouting the plains with only your default weapons?"

They both nodded.

Kirito resisted the urge to face-palm.

"Now now..." The raven haired player patted his shoulder.

"I mean, we didn't expect it to break that quickly." Tsuna had his brow furrowed.

"We were doing quite well till they gave out." Takeshi added.

Klein waved his hand. "Don't worry too much, Kirito. They're still newbies, you know?"

"And you're not?"

"Hey!"

Klein looked over the two newbies. "I guess this is the first time you guys logged in?"

They nodded.

"Both of us decided to play around with the game for the day while my mom went shopping with the kids-er, friends of the family."

"Cool, you're friends in the other side?"

They nodded again.

"We also come to the same school." Takeshi added. "Tsuna's tutor got a few copies of the game to keep the kids in his house busy."

'Who the heck is this tutor guy? He can't possibly get multiple copies of the game just like that and not have any prior connections.' Kirito's eye twitched.

Klein held his arms over his shoulders. "I definitely know how that feels. I've got a couple of cousins, rowdy bunch. Though I lived alone for some time now."

Kirito interrupted them. "We really shouldn't be discussing real-world stuff in-game."

"Why not?" Takeshi raised an eyebrow. "It's now like we have anything to hide, right Tsuna?"

"Hiiii-" Tsuna waved his hands. "Of course!"

"In any case." Klein waved his hand. "I'll introduce myself first, I'm Klein."

"Ah, right." The black haired player nodded. "Kirito."

"Yamamoto Takeshi," The raven haired teen one beamed. "Nice to meet you!"

"Sawada Tsunayoshi," The brunette followed accordingly. "Sorry we had to rely on you guys to save us."

 ** _Slap!_**

Kirito's hand was on his forehead.

"Oi," Klein's eyes were wide. "You don't just blurt out things like that here!"

The two tilted their head.

"I mean saying your names!"

"You did ask for them, you know?" Takeshi chuckled. "You're a weird one."

"Weird-!?"

"I should've guessed." Kirito massaged his temple. "You guys also used your real names, didn't you?"

"Huh?" Tsuna turned to the exasperated player.

"Just click accept [Yes] when a party request pops up, alright?"

Kirito navigated the menu.

[Would you like to join Kirito's party?]

The two newbies accepted.

Klein darted his head to their party screen. "Wait-"

"Figures."

"-seriously?" Klein's eyes went wide.

The upper left corner of their screen showed the current members of their party.

[]Kirito

[]Klein

[]No-Good Tsuna

[]Takeshi

"Have you guys even played any MMOs before!?"

"I've played a couple of console games with the kids-" Tsuna shook his head. "but this is the first MMO, why?"

"You don't put any of your personal info in these sorts of things!" Kirito chastised them. "It could end up getting in the hands of dangerous people."

Takeshi laughed. "It's alright. if it's one thing Tsuna can handle, it's danger!"

'Are these people for real?' Kirito was looking over their newfound company.

"Also, Tsuna-" Klein looked at the player's name.

"Ahahaha." Tsuna scratched the back of his head. "My tutor threatened to kill me if I changed it."

'What the hell kind of tutor is that!?'

"In any case, I should be logging out now. Got some stuff to do before getting back here." Klein was exhausted trying to understand their new companions.

"You can show these guys around while I'm gone for a bit, Kirito. God knows they need it."

Takeshi laughed. "Now now..."

"S-sure..." Kirito sighed.

Klein was silent all of a sudden.

"H-hey, Kirito? Total newb question, but how do you log-out again?"

"Silly, even I know how to do that!" Takeshi chuckled. "Here, look at this-"

The raven haired teen gestured the menu and navigated to find the button. "Huh?"

Tsuna shivered. "Yamamoto?"

"It's not here."

"What?"

Then the four players were engulfed in a green light and were transported to a very familiar square. It was the center of the Town. The next thing they noticed was player after player were also being teleported to the same place till the square was filled to the brim.

"Hey! What's the big deal!? I can't get out of the square!"

Kirito heard one player shout. After that the whole area burst out a wave of noise coming from the confused players.

The beta-tester looked over to look at his company. They were sticking close together.

He walked over to them.

"Kirito, you know anything about this?" Klein raised an eyebrow.

"No, this wasn't in the beta." Kirito looked at the other two.

Takeshi had his hands over his shoulders. His face was the same as before, oblivious? no, calm. He was clam despite the oddity of the situation.

"Wow, I didn't expect to see this many people." He had his arms over his shoulders. "This game is pretty famous, isn't it?"

Kirito actually had his eye twitch at the words.

He, for the sake of his own sanity, tried scooting over to Tsuna. At least the brunette had the common sense. Even if it's askew, at least it's not on the same level as Takeshi.

Tsuna had his eyebrow furrowed like always. The brunette was clearly also unnerved by the situation, but he was looking up to the sky, unlike the other players that were busy staring at each other.

"Tsuna-?" Kirito was about to ask when the brunette opened his mouth.

"Something is coming."

Kirito darted his eyes towards the sky and, surely enough, something definitely came. The sky was currently bleeding, as the fluid that bled through materialized itself the rest of the players were already screaming.

" _Saluti_!" A voice erupted.

The players were now silent. The fluid promptly turned into a gigantic robed figure, it had a daunting hood over its head and loomed over the players.

"Players, I welcome you all to my world." The figure raised its arms. "My name is Kayaba Akihiko."

'What?'

'What the hell...'

'Isn't that guy supposed to be the...'

Players were now beginning to restore their earlier noise. But the figure waved his arm and the players were engulfed in a bright light.

Kirito was able to close his eyes so he was able to recover quicker than the others. He looked over his company to ensure their safety; only to find three completely different people rubbing their eyes.

Granted, they were wearing the same equipment his company had now that he gave a second look.

One man was about the same height as him, he had a brushed up hairdo and a stubble. Kirito was easily able to tell he was Klein, he was wearing his red bandana, after all.

The other two, however he could only ask to confirm.

"Is that you, Takeshi?"

"Kirito?" The one who answered was the man taller than Kirito. He had short-spiky raven hair and when he opened his eyes to look around, they were brown.

"I'm here." He waved.

"The heck!?" Klein patted his shoulder. "Is that really you, man?"

Kirito nodded. "I think you should take a look at each other."

Yamamoto laughed. "Is that you, Klein? You have a stubble!"

"Yeah yeah...wait what!?" He rubbed his chin. "The heck!? This is my face!"

He looked over the other two. "Damn, you guys are pretty tall for your age."

Yamamoto laughed. "Thanks!"

Kirito laughed dryly.

The raven haired teen then turned to his friend. "Tsuna?"

The other two looked over to see their last companion.

Kirito saw Takeshi pat the shoulder of a short brunette whose hair defied the laws of gravity. The brunette was looking down at the floor, furrowing his brow. When somebody called he turned to look.

"Eh? Yamamoto?" Tsuna looked over and saw them. "Klein? Kirito?"

Kirito looked at Tsuna's eyes; they were amber. 'Those eyes.'

He shook his head. "Tsuna? You're quick to guess who we were."

"Ah-" He laughed dryly. "Intuition, I guess?"

Kirito raised an eyebrow.

"Tsuna's good at guessing." Takeshi grabbed him by the shoulder. "That's how he's passed every test so far."

"Hey!"

Takeshi rubbed Tsuna's head.

'These guys are taking this in stride.' Kirito sighed. 'Scratch that, I don't think they even understand the situation at hand.'

"Now that I have given you ample time to adapt to the visual changes in your avatar, I am here to explain to you the recent updates I have placed upon the game." He flew higher. "First and foremost, you can no longer log-out."

This raised a loud outburst. The figure however ignored most of it.

"If you people do not be silent from now on, you will not be able to hear, let alone understand." it continued. "Are you willing to sacrifice crucial intel over petty noise and ranting?"

As if a ghost passed through the entire area, all players became silent.

"Good." The figure nodded. "I have already informed the general public about this information as well, so you need to worry over yourselves now."

'General public?' Kirito furrowed his brow. 'Why does he need them to know?'

"Other than the general changes in appearance- you now have two items in your inventory."

All the players scrambled to gesture the menu and look over what changed in their items.

Kirito looked at his items to find two items.

[Dying will Flame - Guidebook]

[Unidentified E-class Ring]

"W-what are these?" He murmured.

Then he heard a shriek. Klein and he looked over to the source and found it was Tsuna. The brunette had a mortified face while staring at his user interface.

But what shocked Kirito most was that Takeshi also was stern. He didn't even know the teen could actually have that kind of expression.

'Do they know something about these new items?'

Kirito was about to ask when the figure spoke again. "As you can see, the two items in your inventory are the guide book and a ring. Any further questions about what I am to explain to you now is found in the book."

As the figure explained the brief changes to the game, two players were too focused to the revelation than to listen over the looming figure.

Tsuna was staring at his inventory, completely shutting out any noise made by the figure and the other players. 'H-how...'

He eyed the items again. 'Dying will flame.'

"Tsuna," He looked over and saw Takeshi looking grim. "This- how come...?"

"I don't know, Yamamoto." He shook his head. He clicked the book and a physical tome was summoned.

Tsuna scanned the contents of the book.

'Seven flames... the mafia... Verde's research notes... they're all here!'

Takeshi was also looking over Tsuna's tome. "But there isn't anything that says about the Vongola."

Tsuna turned.

Takeshi was smiling at him. "They're still safe, Tsuna. Whoever this Akihiko guy is, he knows about the flames."

"But he doesn't know anything about the current affairs."

"That's right."

"Then- if we use this ring?"

"It said unidentified..."

"so-?"

"If we summon our flames, it'll designate itself to whatever type the user carries." Tsuna spoke softly, Yamamoto looked at him and saw his eyes had an orange glint to it. "We need to tell Reborn about this."

"Roger that," He nodded. "But how can we contact the baby the others-?"

The pair was then distracted by the sudden series of screams.

They looked around to find some people that suddenly collapsed. After a few moments their bodies suddenly disappeared into polygons.

"What in the-"

"As I explained earlier, any attempts at removing your gear will result to death. Likewise when your HP will reach zero. These people had their gear tampered from the other side, thus the results."

The figure became bigger. "Players! I implore you to struggle, to endure, and to overcome this obstacle. Of course, with the dying will aiding you it is never impossible. As explained in the book. Such an ability exists in the outside world."

The players that were panicking became worse.

Kirito was pulled from his thoughts as he heard.

"If you clear the castle's floors and survive in this game, by then you will have the ability to control this power in the real world. Call it an unparalleled reward for beating the odds."

"What make you so sure we'll take that bait!?" one player voiced.

'I'd like to think it's a ruse, but-' He looked over to the two of his companions that were reading a copy of the guide.

The figure gestured and a gigantic holographic screen appeared in front of them. It played a video of a man in a tuxedo in the middle of a gun fight. He was cornered when he pulled a small box and a ring.

The video was shot in a zoomed in angle where they could see what he was doing but the man was oblivious of the fact he was being filmed.

He put the ring on and clenched his fist.

To the surprise of everyone a green flash erupted from his hand and a crackle of green lightning was present in his ring.

'What in the hell-!?' Kirito was wide eyed.

The man then proceeded to punch in his ring to the strange box. After a second and a flash of light, a turret gun suddenly appeared!

The screen disappeared and the figure waved his hands. All players were still in awe of the scene, nobody tried to make any noise.

"Satisfied?"

In the thick pile of players was Tsuna being dragged down by another player that collapsed.

"Damn," He instinctively tried to carry him. "I got you!"

But before he could do anything else the man disappeared in a pile of polygons. The brunette looked at the polygons as it was snuffed out. The face of the player right before he disappeared burned through Tsuna's mind.

The player-no, the man knew he would die; his face said it all.

* * *

 _"C'mon, that's not a face to show at a time like this." A blonde man tightened his embrace. "That's not what your mother taught you."_

 _Tsuna could feel the couple's raw emotion from afar._

 _The teen looked at the peaceful face they were showing amidst facing death. Then his eyes fell to the gentle azure eyes of the girl on the blonde man's embrace._

 _'When you're happy; smile with your heart!'_

 _Tears fell from the girl._

 _Both of them disappeared in a feint orange glow, leaving seven pacifiers to fall in their remaining clothing._

* * *

Tsuna slammed his fist on the ground.

"Tsuna-" Takeshi tried to grab his friend but he was able to stand up on his own.

The brunette was looking down, his eyes hidden by his thick hair but Yamamoto could sense it: Tsuna's killing intent.

His friend wasn't the one that can hold a grudge, hell, he's even befriended most of the people he once fought with. But there were only few instances that his fights included innocents. And every time it did he would always put their safety first.

"Hey, kid-?"

Takeshi held back Klein who was about to come close to his boss. 'It was just like when Gamma and Uni...'

Tsuna started to walk.

Kirito was looking at the figure, his thoughts on the fact that they're all practically hostages by the man.

"Players-"

"Why are you doing this?"

The figure was about to conclude its speech when a voice cut through the players' silence. It was not a loud voice, it wasn't deep either. But everybody that heard it felt the authority behind its words.

Kirito tried to find where the source was. The figure shrunk itself and went closer to the player that voiced.

"My purpose is to reveal the truth to the world-"

"Just for something petty as that, you dare toy with innocents?"

'Tsuna!?' Kirito was wide eyed.

Tsuna was looking down, his hair covering his eyes.

"Petty- You dare call my life work petty!? Who are you to-"

"People just died!" The brunette raised his head.

Kirito flinched at the boy in front of him. 'Tsuna-?'

Tsuna's face was furious! He looked like he was ready to tear the figure to shreds. His eyes had an orange glint but it looked enthralling despite the ominous killing intent.

"You dare put all this under the pretense of truth!?"

"But-"

"But nothing!" Tsuna waved his hand dismissively.

 ** _Bang!_**

All the people that surrounded him reeled back from an unseen pressure excreted; except for Takeshi, who was now standing behind the left side of the brunette.

Kirito was able to retain his balance. 'W-was that from...'

"Tsuna!?" Klein called from beside Kirito.

Kirito ignored him and looked back to see that the figure taken aback. "W-who are you-"

"I know that's not the real you." Tsuna interrupted. "But know this, for the sake of those who already died-"

Kirito could've sworn he saw a flickering light on Tsuna's face. Tsuna grabbed the empty cloak and slammed it down to the rim of the fountain.

"I'll make you regret it!"

Immortal Object

The fountain revealed a purple polygon. Then the entire radius of the fountain was then riddled by the polygons.

The figure teleported to the sky, it was now bigger than earlier. It hovered by the sky, unmoving.

Kirito waited for any response.

"R-right. Players..."

The figure glanced back to the brunette.

"-fight bravely."

The figure disappeared.

* * *

 **Author Notes:**

* * *

I know, I know. "Another story? What the hell, man!? Just stick to one and update it a lot."

I couldn't help it. I saw an ēlDLIVE + KHR video on youtube and I was struck with nostalgic memories like a bus!

Here's the Link: watch?v=Pd7PMr5C4Lc

I really loved this manga when I was still in grade school so couldn't help but have the need to quench my nostalgia tug. (My phone was playing LiSA songs while I was re-reading some favorite moments of the manga, that's how I got the idea of the fic.)

. . .

Also by the 18th will be my college department's Christmas party so after that I've got all vacation to finally update my first fic (I actually have four chapters roughed out; just need to polish them).


	2. Chapter 2 - Gather

**Chapter 2 - Gather**

* * *

The roaring sound of a Harley-Davidson Sportster rumbled across the town of Namimori, earning side glances from the people it passed. The driver, his face covered by a red tinted helmet, couldn't care less about the complaints he would receive for driving so haphazardly.

"Faster, damn it!"

He revved the engine, shooting himself even faster.

'Tenth...'

Only two blocks more and-

Hayato Gokudera skidded to a halt arriving at the unmistakable house of his boss. It was a traditional two storey house.

The young man stepped off his bike and pulled out a small opened box. It had the intricate emblem of the Vongola family, he faced the opened side of the box in front of the motorcycle and the vehicle was stored inside the box weapon.

The motorcycle box were based on the motorcycles they actually had back when they traveled into the future. They were given by the Giglio Nero Family's boss, Uni, after the box technology was finally introduced to the present. It was a gift of gratitude for freeing the Arcobaleno's curse.

Gokudera went inside the gate, but not before noticing a dozen suited men standing across the lot. Unfazed, he walked towards them. One of the men tried to stop him but ceased once he recognized Gokudera without his helmet.

Upon closer observation, one of the men he did recognize.

Coyote Nougat stood guard by the doorstep, his face crunched up as if to clobber anyone that passes by. He turned to look at the approaching guardian.

"The tenth's storm..." His gaze pierced the young man.

It was well known by any of the cosa-nostra who follows the seven flame code that the storm guardian is the right hand man of the boss. It was a given when the boss is put in any danger, the right-hand would be the first to hold the line.

The young man before him knew it well.

Gokudera's face was resolute, that much is evident, but he was one who puts his heart on his sleeves. The young man's teeth were gnashed and his cheeks were flush.

"He's inside, along with the rain guardian." In the end, the old man sighed. Nougat saw too much of himself in the young man.

He stepped aside and let the tenth's storm guardian rush to his boss' aid.

Nana Sawada, or just Mama if you don't want her to chastise you for treating her as if her was older, was in the living room couch hugging the kids. Fuuta and Lambo were leaning their heads beside her while I-Pin was spread across her lap, they were all asleep.

"Mama..." Gokudera managed to croak out. But he couldn't say any more, any idiot could see her damp cheeks. Hell, they all were.

He noticed the stupid Cow was wearing his Vongola gear, he even had the ten-year bazooka laying on the floor.

'He must've thought of bringing his future self to help.' Hayato crouched down to the lightning guardian and wiped some snot off his nose.

"Lambo was the only one who's supposed to play the game, you know." Hayato heard a firm feminine voice from behind him. "He also thinks it was his fault the two got stuck."

He knew who it was, but he didn't try to look. It would've been the end of him if he did. "Bianchi?"

"Mama didn't put someone to blame." She hugged him from behind. "You couldn't have known, Hayato."

He nodded silently. Gokudera shook her off of him gently then went up the stairs. Upon arriving at Tsuna's room, Hayato's legs almost gave out.

" _Madonna santa_..." He exclaimed in italian.

The Vongola storm guardian was no slouch in combat, far from it in fact. But seeing his boss in such a hopeless state gave a titanic blow to his pride as a the boss' right-hand man. A title which Hayato never forsake for even a second.

Hayato was at his part time job from across the town when an urgent news spread across every station in the country.

 _"Removing the NerveGear from the user's head in any way would result in their immediate deaths. To any of the flame users that would try a valiant rescue to the players, please realize: I know of you."_

The last statement was still ringing on his mind.

Hayato shook his head.

"Gokudera? Good, you're here."

It was Spanner! His blonde hair and green eyes were a dead giveaway, even more so alongside his green mechanic overalls.

He was currently hooking up wires to the Tenth and the baseball idiot's helmets. The wires connected to his laptop where he proceeded to tinker.

"How long have you-"

 _Riiiiing!_

Hayato recognized the ring, it came from the Tenth's X-Headphones right beside spanner. The guardian took the headphones from its custom container.

"I've messaged Reborn earlier, that must be him." Spanner didn't bother to look over his shoulder as he spoke.

Gokudera nodded and answered the call.

 _Click!_

A hologram of the baby in question came into view.

"Reborn-san, I-"

"Spare yourself, Gokudera." Reborn tipped his fedora. "I was the one who gave the copies of the game."

"But-"

"Don't make such a pathetic face." The infant chastised him. "It's not like we're completely hopeless here."

Hayato's eyes sharpened.

"Don't forget," Reborn nodded. "An attack to the boss like this-"

"...means war." The storm guardian upped some of his killing intent.

"Also..."

Hayato could hear a reverberating noise coming from outside getting louder and louder. 'A helicopter?'

"... I sent Shoichi Irie over. He should be able to get some contact on the inside."

Tsuna's room window opened and amazingly enough the man in question came inside as if on cue, holding a steel attaché. The redhead looked at them and gave sheepish smile. "I know, too flashy for an entrance."

"Shoichi should have the parcel." Reborn cut in.

Irie nodded and handed the case to Gokudera. He opened the case to find a CZ-75 pistol, and a dozen silver jacketed bullets. "These are-!"

"Rebuke Bullets," Reborn nodded. "You're holding onto that till I come back."

"Where are you at the moment?"

The baby turned, his face looking from a distance. "I'm with Lemitsu, the ninth mobilized the CEDEF."

Gokudera steeled himself. "I will assume command here, Mr. Reborn."

"Good man." The Arcobaleno actually managed to smile at his words. "Since the list of hostages were already relayed to the public. I'm assuming they'll already be coming to you."

Before Hayato could ask what the baby meant a loud noise clattered from outside. He went to see and found the rest of his boss' guardians. Ryohei Sasagawa and his sister was riding his Honda CBR while Chrome Dokuro was riding her own Ducati Street fighter with Haru Miura in tow.

Gokudera was then pushed aside by another man that entered the Sawada household via window. It was the Vongola tenth's cloud guardian, Kyoya Hibari.

He unceremoniously stepped closer to the Tenth and the Baseball Idiot. "They are still alive."

"Of course they are!" Ryohei barged into the room. "This may be a hard situation to be in, but Sawada and Yamamoto extremely have this in the bag!"

The cloud guardian twitched his eyelids. "You're loud."

"Shut it, lawn-head." Hayato groaned, he then turned to Hibari. "Of course they are, the tenth isn't that weak."

"What did the baby say about the situation?"

"He and the CEDEF mobilized, the Vongola is treating this as an act of war." Hayato supplied.

"I meant about freeing the two—"

Soichi shook his head. "Unless we can determine the lock Kayaba placed into these devices, I will not advice doing anything drastic."

Spanner nodded in agreement. "Besides, with his knowledge of the flame, who knows what other traps he has in his sleeves. He might have already noticed the Vongola's flame signature and paid special attention to them."

Hibari closed his eyes. "Two students of Namimori Middle held hostage, this is unforgivable."

There was a knock on the door, they all looked and found the tenth's mist guardian, Chrome Dokuro, stepping inside. "Kyoko-chan and Haru-chan are bellow, they accompanied Mama."

Hayato nodded. "Where's Mokuro?"

She shook her head. "He might not have heard the news yet."

"Even if he did, I don't think that guy would bother to come." Ryouhei added. "He's not that sentimental to the rest of us unlike you, Chrome."

She pondered his words, and found herself nodding in agreement.

"I'd rather have you as the official guardian, anyhow." Gokudera frowned. "If it wasn't for the Tenth's father, I'd have the freak give you back the Mist Earrings."

She became elated at his words.

"He wouldn't have given it without a fight." Hibari mused.

"I-in any event, h-how is the boss?" Chrome steered the topic.

Soichi waved to them. "Their vitals are well, nothing of note. Their flame levels are also—"

A surge of killing intent flooded the room, then a burst of hard sky flames flooded the area. Without thinking the guardians brought out their Vongola Gear, except Chrome who materialized her trident.

Spanner and Soichi were overwhelmed by the pressure, they almost fainted but was protected by translucent shields from Gokudera's Sistema C.A.I.

The guardians themselves were able to handle the pressure. They lowered their weapons, however, when they realized the flames came from Tsuna himself.

"Boss..." Chrome panted. The only time she saw her boss' unbridled fury was when he fought Daemon Spade, even then it wasn't as intense compared now.

"He's extremely pissed." Ryohei laughed dryly.

"Tenth..."

"Wow." They heard Hibari mutter. "The little degenerate hasn't become boring yet."

"I'm currently looking over the reports here." Soichi scrolled over his laptop. "Apparently Kayaba had just announced the event to the players themselves."

"How come we were told way earlier than them?" Gokudera was puzzled.

"It doesn't matter." Hibari stepped outside the window. "What matters is the degenerates are now notified by the situation."

He turned back to give a last look at the ones laying on the bed. "And by the looks of it, they aren't taking the news well."

Hibari gave a light chuckle and jumped across the street, into the house on the opposite side.

The remaining guardians looked among themselves and nodded in agreement. Kyoya was right, the circumstance wasn't the same. But the threat was all too familiar, the tenth generation vongola family was again unwillingly pulled into another battle.

* * *

But this time, their boss already gave them an answer through his flame.

"Tsuna?" Klein followed the pair along the stone streets of the town. "What the hell was that back there?"

Kirito wasn't far behind, but unlike his companion he didn't bother to ask the two. He was too bothered by the current circumstances to ask even more questions he wasn't prepared to be answered.

Klein's futile attempt at questioning the young man continued till they reached the beginner's plains, the place where the four first met. He looked at Tsuna.

He was walking aimlessly, it'd be a wonder if he was listening to Klein at all.

"I know it's not in my place to ask, bro. But—"

Tsuna stopped. He turned towards them.

He was shaking, his body was trembling, his hands were clenched into fists, and he was sweating. But his gaze, locked at them, were anything but scared. Tsuna bit his lips, and started to speak.

"I don't want you guys involved any more than you already have." His voice cracked, the two weren't convinced at all. "Leave this matter to us."

Yamamoto, who was silent the entire time, patted Kirito's shoulder. "Trust us."

Suddenly they were a far cry from the hopeless novices from a few hours ago. Klein was looking at them as if they were insane. And in a way, so was Kirito.

"Leave, what, beating this game? Confronting Kayaba?" Klein began. "What the hell are you guys talking about? A few hours ago you couldn't even beat the area-boss!"

Tsuna was about to say something, but Yamamoto stepped between them. "Klein, I'm sorry. But halfheartedly going through the road Tsuna and I took would cost you your lives."

He was already wearing the item given to them by Kayaba at the Town. If Kirito remembered, it was called an Unidentified E-Class Ring. He wasn't familiar with the item, it wasn't mentioned anywhere in the Beta. Nor it was hinted to be part of the game in any of the promotions before release.

But Yamato, who wasn't even sensible enough to buy a stronger weapon before trying to beat an area-boss, was wearing it in his finger as if it was there his whole life.

He clenched his fist, Kirito and Klein were pushed back by an overwhelming pressure. It was the same earlier with Tsuna, but it wasn't as intense. They forced themselves to push back against the pressure, they found themselves looking at a spectacular sight.

Yamamoto was emitting azure colored flames, but as Kirito focused, he realized it was coming from the ring.

"W-what the hell is this..." Klein couldn't handle the pressure, he was forced to kneel on one knee.

Kirito was close to doing the same, and it looks like Yamamoto wasn't letting it up. He couldn't think straight, but he knew one thing. The ring is the key. He pulled out the item from his inventory and equipped it.

Nothing happened.

He clenched his fist, focused on anything he could make the ring do.

Still nothing.

The flames suddenly died out. Kirito and Klein caught their breath, it was too overwhelming. They didn't have a single clue what it was, and it looked like the two novices they met were completely adept at it.

"Yamamoto, that's enough." They heard Tsuna speak. "We owe them at least an explanation."

Kirito keeled over, but Yamato caught him. He gave them an apologetic face.

"What the heck was that?" Klein coughed, his face was tired.

"It is called the Dying will Flame." Tsuna knelt in front of them. "If you start reading the Guidebook, you will learn a bit about them."

"T-then that guy on the video with the gun, and you earlier—"

He nodded. "It's all true."


	3. Chapter 3 - Hyper Mode

**Chapter 3 - Hyper Mode**

* * *

Few things could surprise Kazuto Kirigaya.

He had been exposed to quite a lot of things in his life; orphaned, forced to live with his foster family alongside a disapproval grandfather, to boot. But most importantly, he was an avid gamer. Through the years he had been taking the role of chosen ones, heroes, and the like. Roles that most always counts on saving someone or some world.

But after the half-hour that Tsuna and Yamamoto explained about the Dying Will Flames, the rings, and even the notes found in the Guide given by Kayaba, he almost resorted to laughing in disbelief.

Klein certainly did so.

"So, you're saying that guy on the video back there wasn't backed by CGI?" They were talking nonsense. The two wanted to believe they were pulling a prank, screwing with them in some way.

But Tsuna was looking at them with sympathy, Kazuto was very familiar with the look. It was the same look his foster parents gave him before they told him what happened to his parents.

Klein took a deep breath. "You're not kidding, aren't you?"

Takeshi shook his head. "I wish we were."

"Then show me those flames again, if you don't mind." Kazuto wanted to see it again. Just a last look before they completely take in the ridiculous story as truth.

Tsuna, like the rest of them, was sitting on the grassy plains. He turned to Yamamoto and nodded.

"Sure." The tall teen pulled his hand out. "Eh?"

But found the ring had disappeared.

"It was in my hand just a while ago." He scratched his head. He then turned to take a good look around.

"You lost it?" Klein laughed dryly. "Way to go lose your coolness factor, dude."

The teen just laughed hard in response. "I'm not this clumsy, usually anyway."

Tsuna's widened. "Now that you mentioned it, mine is gone as well."

"What?" The three looked at Tsuna.

"I could've sworn I was clutching it in my hand when we were at the town. I thought I just put it in my inventory, but—" He was swiping his inventory window.

"Just like weapons," Kazuto pieced it together. "You don't think the rings also have some form of durability in-game, is there?"

Tsuna and Yamamoto's eyes widened. As if they remembered something crucial.

"Hibari-san." Tsuna muttered. "That's right, I remember him constantly burning through low-class rings back when—"

"Hey, Kirito." Yamamoto looked their way. "Would you mind taking out your ring?"

He nodded and took out the ring from his inventory, he held it in his hand. Yamamoto then looked at it, it read 'Unidentified E-class ring.'

"Does it have something to do with the E-class part of the name?" Klein asked.

Tsuna nodded. "Usually when opening a box, you'd only need a small amount of flame."

"Not small, Tsuna." Yamamoto remembered what Lal Mirch told them. "You need a strong flame to open a box, but just enough to not break the ring you carry."

The two of them have been in battle using their Vongola Rings, and their Vongola Gear after that. No wonder they haven't been paying attention to such details, they had the luxury to ignore the ring quality.

"Then you're saying you two broke your rings from exerting too much flames in them?" Kirito looked at his ring. "Wait a minute, Inspect!"

He activated a skill. He then took another look at the item. He nodded and looked at his companions.

"The item, when looked through the inspect skill, has the threshold of 1,000 Fiamma Volts. I'll just assume that's the measurement for the flames." He looked at the three.

They were silent. But suddenly Takeshi laughed, clutching his stomach. Tsuna looked at them, but was chuckling as well.

"I'm sorry," Takeshi waved at them. "No wonder they got destroyed. I guess we were used to the gear we use, we didn't give the rings themselves much thought."

"What do you mean?" Klein had his brow raised.

"Earlier, when Yamamoto overwhelmed you with his flames." Tsuna explained. "I think he was exerting at least a hundred thousand Fiamma Volts back there."

It was a rough estimate. It was not as intense as Tsuna's first X-Burner, which reached around 250,000 fiamma volts.

"H-hundred thousand!?" How the hell were they alive then?

"And you're saying these things only have a thousand till they break!?"

Kirito started to remember the two right when they met. Oblivious.

He then slammed the guidebook he was holding to his forehead.

"Please don't accidentally kill us just because you guys forgot how strong you actually are."

The two just laughed dryly.

"But then," Klein pondered. "How the hell did you guys get this strong in the first place? I know you guys told us about the flames, types, where they're from. But, I'm no expert, you don't just have that much power if you're not deep-in-the-know and such, you know what I mean?"

The two suddenly froze.

'Something tells me they're not telling us everything.' Kirito looked at them.

Yamamoto looked at Tsuna.

Kirito noticed this a lot. The teen seemingly looked reliable to him, confident even. But every time a big decision was to be made, whether as little like where to go or as major like about the secret they're hiding, he always turns to Tsuna for the final word.

Tsuna was looking past them, it was a look he wasn't expecting the teen to have. He read about it on the internet, it was called the thousand yard stare. It was the look veteran soldiers gave when they remembered their time on the battlefield.

Tsuna, looked at Klein and Kirito. "We only told you guys about the flames to help you understand how terrible and dangerous it is."

"But-"

"I'm sorry."

"We are also trapped here, Tsuna." Klein looked at the teen. "I don't know what sort of life you guys have beyond this game, it honestly sounds dangerous."

He took out his ring from his inventory and wore it.

"We are in the same boat now. You need us, we know about the ins and outs of videogames more than you. But you know more about these more then we'll ever hope."

Kirito looked at the man, he looked reliable. He wasn't looking at Klein, this was the man outside his in-game avatar, an adult.

"If we are able to live trough this, we'll need each other." He clenched his fist. "You don't have to tell us anything about you, it's your secret to keep."

Then a soft orange flame burned through his ring. "But let us join you, we owe you this much."

Kirito was wide eyed. It was the first flame he saw that didn't come from Tsuna or Takeshi. Klein actually did it!

Klein was hesitant to look at the two, sure, he produced a flame. But compared to what Takeshi displayed earlier, it was like looking at a matchstick fire. But when he looked, the two were smiling ear to ear.

Tsuna, especially, was looking at him expectantly.

"You've got one hell of a flame, Klein!" Yamamoto flung his arm across his shoulders.

"Hey! Watch it—" He reeled back. "This should be nothing new to you two, why the surprised looks?"

"Apparently orange flames are classified as sky flames, Klein." Kirito was looking at the guide. "They have the characteristic of Harmony, and is one of the rarest flames among them."

Yamamoto pointed at himself. "I'm a rain flame user, myself."

"It was only for an instant, but I remember yours, Tsuna." Kirito looked at the brunette.

He laughed dryly. "Yeah, I'm also a sky flame user."

"Sweet, I'll be relying on you to teach me a bunch of stuff, dude."

"Eh?" Tsuna waved his hands in protest. "I don't know anything about teaching."

"That's true, usually we turn to Gokudera-kun when talking about studying."

"Who's that?"

"A friend of ours, he's a storm flame user." Tsuna supplied. "He's great at teaching people, but sometimes he's kind of intense."

"He's very intense about everything." Takeshi laughed.

The two looked at them, Kirito and Klein both don't talk about the real world. Likely a subconscious effect when playing a lot of MMOs. You don't normally talk about stuff people won't understand in-game.

Especially now that they're in this game, trapped. It gets hard to talk about the peaceful outside world. Klein honestly wanted to get out as fast as possible, he had a job, a life.

Kazuto wasn't as eager, it wasn't as different than his usually days of gaming entire days away. Sure, school gets in his way a few times but ultimately he spends his time more in-game than the outside. Looking at the two talking about the outside world like they could go out at any time; to Klein it was reassuring, but to him it was an unfamiliar sight.

Not that it bothered him, he had his own problems to take care of.

"Give it a try, Kirito." Klein look at him.

"Huh?"

Yamamoto nodded. "You should give it a try. Let's see what sort of flame you got."

Kirito blinked. He already tried back when Yamamoto was overwhelming them with his flames.

"Let's see." He still had his ring in his hand. He equipped it and clenched his fist, but it was still like back then.

"Nothing." He admitted.

"The woman that taught us how to summon our flames told us it take usually takes someone longer to summon their flames."

"You sure this isn't some anime thing where-you-need-to-be-chosen-to-bear-this-power and stuff?" Klein asked.

"Nope." Tsuna shook his head. "All things alive have a form of life-force or wave energy, as she put it, it takes a strong resolve to summon the flames."

'Resolution.' Kirito pondered. 'Klein was had his resolve put in his sleeves since they met. The same goes for those two.'

He sighed and unequipped his ring.

"I'll just try this again later."

Tsuna nodded. "Take your time, I was also the last of our friends to be able to summon their flame."

Kirito smiled at that. "Thanks."

Klein pondered. "Now what do we do? Usually to get stronger in MMOs, you grind the hell out of your character."

"Before that, how do we get new rings?" Kirito looked at the ring less duo. "You guys won't be able to do much without your flames."

"We can summon flames without rings just fine. Here, give me your weapon." He asked Klein.

The man gave him his sword. Yamamoto gripped the weapon, it was a standard looking arming-sword with a cross guard. The blade was double edged, it was a different beast than the rain guardian's Shigure Kintoki.

Yamamoto turned the blade, focused his wave energy. The sword actually caught fire, in a blue flame coated with simmering particles gliding around the flame like rippling water.

"See?"

Kirito and Klein were wide eyed yet again.

"That's awesome."

"You guys can do that? That's nifty."

"Yep, though I can only do that when I'm using a weapon. Without a ring, the stuff you can do is very limited."

Tsuna scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, this is a problem. I don't have that much experience in using swords."

"Hey, it's not like any of us are real swordsmen." Klein patted his shoulder. "Right?"

Kirito and Yamamoto looked away.

"Seriously?"

"I learned Kendo when I was a kid." Kirito admitted, his eyes were still darting away.

"For real!?" Yamamoto flung his arms around Kirito's shoulders. "I had my old man teach me some kendo too! We should have a match some time, I bet Jiro and Kojiro would have a blast!"

Tsuna started sweating bullets. 'You're going to use them while sparring!?"

"Who're they?"

"Jiro's a cute shiba inu and Kojiro's a very quick swallow." He was practically glowing while talking about his pets.

"I haven't trained kendo in a while," Kirito politely declined.

"Don't worry, I'm no slouch at sword fighting." Takeshi smirked. "I'm sure with me as your opponent your skills will be sharpened in no time."

"Wait—"

Kirito was about to say something but was cut off by Klein. "So all that's left is you and me, eh Tsuna? Non-combatants in this deathtrap."

The brunette then looked away.

"Oh c'mon! Didn't you say you weren't a swordsman!?" The redhead was exasperated.

"He isn't." Yamamoto chuckled. "But with his gloves equipped, I don't think even I would be able to beat Tsuna at fighting."

"Seriously." Was he pulling their leg again? Kirito looked at Tsuna, who was laughing sheepishly at them.

"You're a boxer?"

"Nope, that's more on Ryohei's alley." Yamamoto waved. "Tsuna fights with his entire body, not just his fists. But his weapons are his gloves."

"That sounds like a brawl, rather than a fight." Kirito mused.

"Yeah, something like that." Tsuna then realized. "Speaking of gloves, I can't go into Hyper Mode without my pills."

Yamamoto went wide eyed. "That's right!"

"Reborn always forced me to train going Hyper Mode without them, but I've never done it on command."

"Unless, the baby shoots you with his bullets from outside?"

"Yeah, but if that's the case wouldn't he already start doing it by now?"

"That's true. Oh yeah, you did go into hyper mode back at the town."

"Yeah, I tend to do that nowadays. But it's a different situation when preparing for combat, I can't just hype myself into hyper mode anytime I want. Well, not yet anyway."

"But you're gonna be alright without your gloves, right? You did beat Bermuda that way."

"No, I was in Hyper Mode back then, or something a step up to it. I hate to admit it, but I'm useless at fighting without it."

The two went into their own little world. The situation must've been dire, considering they failed to remember that Kirito and Klein were able to listen in quite well. Not that it mattered, they had no clue what the heck the two were talking about.

'Hyper mode? Pills?' Klein was getting worried.

'A baby shooting?' Kirito very much doubted that was all there is to it. But it didn't sound good.

They both turned to Kirito and Klein. Tsuna looked helpless.

"Looks like we're back to two fighters." Takeshi announced. "Tsuna can't fight without some outside help."

"It's alright, dude." Klein patted the brunette's shoulder. "You guys helped us plenty with you guys teaching us flames and such."

"There are also Sword-skills in the game." Kirito pitched in.

Tsuna didn't hear what Kirito said, he was too preoccupied by the danger he sensed in the area they were in. Yamamoto was second to pick the feeling up.

"There are people in danger." Tsuna already stood up.

The two who weren't able to pick up the danger were left clueless, but they followed him. They were led into a familiar area, the same area where Tsuna and Yamamoto fought the area boss.

And there were four other people on the area, fighting the boss!

They weren't equipped with the standard equipment, in fact, they were wearing gear from the next town. On paper, it was almost five-times the stats of the beginner's equipment. Kirito was able to observe all of it just by glancing at them.

But why did it looked like they were losing?

Then they saw the area boss. The same raging swine they encountered a couple of hours prior. The sun was low, almost sunset, and it made the boss look even more intimidating. But what made them worry was when one of the players attacked it, their weapon bounced.

Green lighting crackled each time one of the players swiped their weapons at the boss. There was no two ways about it, it was using Dying Will Flames!

"What the hell—" Kirito narrowed his eyes. That thing wasn't using flames when they first encountered it, hell it didn't even do the same attacks when it was in the beta.

"Sasaki!?" They heard Klein shout at the players, he was already on the open field.

"Wha—" One of the players saw Klein. "Ryou? Get away from here! This things somehow got stronger!"

Before they could take another step. The boss charged up, it covered its entire body with the green lighting and charged towards the players.

"Son of a—"

"Wha—"

Two of the players fighting were thrown aside! Kirito didn't know what to do, he was collected, but didn't have a plan of any sort. He was under leveled, had the basic gear and no flames to boot. Typically when this happens players just let themselves be killed to not waste any recovery items then try again better prepared.

Now they didn't have that luxury. Kirito knew these players also realized that.

The boss then started charging again. But before it could reach them, Tsuna suddenly jumped from above the swine!

He was thrown across the field. His body rag dolled into one of the boulders.

"Tsuna!" Klein screamed.

Yamamoto was already an arm's length from the bull. He swiped his sword upwards, a torrent of rain flames flowed, coating the area around them.

"Get out of here!" He told the players.

Wasting no time, the players ran towards Klein.

"Ryou!" They knew Klein, that much was clear. The five stood back, looking back at the two players that fought the boss in their stead.

Kirito stepped closer to them. "Don't even think about stepping in there."

Klein flinched. "We can't just leave this to them, man!"

"Yeah, and what're we going to do? It's a miracle Tsuna hadn't died from that move he pulled." He looked at the brunette, who stood up and started walking towards the boss. "Those guys know what they are doing. Once their health goes the red and they still can't escape, we step in and bail them out."

Tsuna's health bar was already at a quarter left, but he was standing in front of the boss. They were only a couple of dozen meters apart. Yamamoto was busy chipping away its health, Klein's sword actually penetrating the boss' skin.

"The sword isn't going to last long, Tsuna." Yamamoto hollered. "You go ahead first, I'll retreat soon as you do."

"Don't worry, Yamamoto." They heard Tsuna speak in a reassuring tone.

Kirito looked at Tsuna, the brunette had the dying will flame on his forehead.

"You." Tsuna addressed the area boss. "Give me your best shot."

The animal somehow understood him, it stopped swinging its tusks at Yamamoto and turned towards the young man. It charged up its flames, a loud crackling sound filled the area. But then bright orange flames flared around Tsuna.

With the sunset behind him, it looked like he was the source of the whole level's light.

The boss threw itself towards the young man, its flames shrugging Tsuna's sky flames. He didn't move, they were already a few meters apart. The boss was only getting faster but still Tsuna wasn't budging.

Then it happened, the boss' legs gave away. It broke, which left the others slack jawed. But upon further inspection, its whole body turned rigid.

It was petrified.

After a moment, the boss disappeared in a pile of polygons.

Tsuna walked towards them. He looked like a different person, he was looking more reliable. His eyes were shimmering amber, and he was standing tall as opposed to his usual slacked posture.

"You guys alright?" He looked at the players.

"Yeah, thanks a bunch, dude. If it weren't for you two, we'd be toast." The one named Sasaki bowed to Tsuna. He in turn smiled at them, it was the kind of smile that made them feel safe.

"That guy—" One of the players whispered to another. "That's the guy that slammed Kayaba on the center of town."

It wasn't a quiet whisper, the others heard and went wide eyed upon realizing. Tsuna nodded at them. "Don't worry, we'll make him pay."

Kirito and Klein wasn't used to this Tsuna at all, he was way too different to his usual self. Takeshi, meanwhile, was grinning from ear to ear.

"So you were able to go into Hyper Mode, after all."

Tsuna looked at Takeshi. "I wasn't. Somebody shot me with the Rebuke Bullet."

He raised his brow. "From outside?"

Tsuna nodded. "The rebuke bullet made me hear their rebukes, even from the outside. Gokudera-kun gathered the guardians."

"That's great!"

"Also." Tsuna sighed. "I know you can hear me, Reborn."

To the other three's surprise. A hologram popped up on Tsuna's shoulder.

"Getting cheeky, are we?"

It was a baby in a tuxedo.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

I decided to add honorifics. It feels weird not putting them for some reason (probably just me). But I will keep the nicknames (baseball freak, lawn-head etc.) as is, rather than using something like Dame Tsuna instead of No-good Tsuna.


End file.
